Following the earthquake that hit Antarctica on Saturday night, the Chilean National Emergency Office (Onemi) issued “erroneously” a national tsunami alert.
The Chilean government announced on Sunday that it is investigating the causes of a false tsunami alert sent to the entire country that caused evacuations after the magnitude 7.1 earthquake in Antarctica and a 5.8 earthquake that was recorded in the center of that nation.
After the strong earthquake that shook Antarctica at 20:36 (23:36 GMT), the Chilean National Emergency Office (Onemi) issued a tsunami alert that sent text messages nationwide to evacuate beaches off the Chilean coast.
However, the confusion grew among the public, because after receiving the message, an earthquake was recorded in Farellones, near the capital.
A few minutes later, the Chilean authorities clarified that it was a mistake, because the evacuation took place only on the coasts of Antarctica.
But the alert was sent to a large part of the country’s 18 million inhabitants, which led to evacuations along the country’s coasts, leaving people terrified on foot and in vehicles, fearing the arrival of a tsunami. A series of criticisms have been generated in social networks in the face of unleashed panic.
READ ALSO: 7 magnitude tsunami alert near Chilean Antarctic base
Videos circulating on the web show the moment of chaos that broke out in some cities, including Cartagena, La Serena, Lloca and Talcahuano, the latter being hit hard by the last earthquake on February 27, 2010, the biobiochile portal points out. .
“We regret that people were forced to evacuate improperly”Interior Minister Rodrigo Delgado said at a news conference on Sunday.
Delgado ruled that it was a human fault and pointed out that there was a technical error by the foreign company in charge of sending the information to the Chilean telephone companies to sound the alarm.
“We will hold those responsible for this failure”, he pretended.
The failure brought to mind another similar episode. On February 27, 2010, there was no warning of a tsunami that swept the southern coast of Chile after a strong 8.8 quake that left more than 500 dead and about 220,000 homes destroyed.
The Antarctic earthquake affected 160 people who were evacuated from nine Chilean bases and other undamaged nationalities.
Meanwhile, the quake in the center of the country was felt in Santiago and four other regions where there was no damage.
Onemi said there was no connection between the two earthquakes.
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